Chinese war games in Tibet are a warning for India

Chinese war games in Tibet are a warning for India

The Chinese army recently conducted its first live fire drills involving both army and air force on the Qinghai Tibetan Plateau.

Military analysts said the Peoples Liberation Army used the new generation Jian-11 fighter jets, the Hangqi -9 surface-to-air missiles and 96-B tanks in the exercse.

These war games are said to be in response to India's augmenting its border defences along the Chinese border. The Chinese have been perturbed with India's plan's to reactivate a forward air base at Noyoma in Ladakh.

India's Look East policy has unnerved the Chinese

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Japan, Vietnam and Malayasia has been seen in Chinese circles as a means to 'encircle' China.

In light of recent US-South Korea military drills in the South China Sea and a Sino-Japanese diplomatic row row over islands in the East China sea, the Chinese have decided to send a message to the world.

The PLA's show of strength

Experts believe that these drills will also serve as a strong warning to pro independence groups in Tibet that the Chinese could deal with any threat. The report quoted some experts as saying that this drill was aimed at augmenting the Chinese army's high altitude operations.

The report qouted a Chinese military expert, who said that the PLA wanted to show the Indian Army that it was capable of defending China's Western border.

Image: A Hongqi-2 missile on display in the hall of weapons at the Military Museum in BeijingPhotographs: Jason Lee/Reuters

The Sino-Indian border dispute remains unresolved

In the last few years, Beijing has augmented its rail links with the Tibetan plateau.

After repeatedly putting down protests by pro-Independence groups in Tibet, China has decided to assert its military superiority.

Both India and China are among the top 10 military spenders in the world.

Tibet and the border issue surrounding Arunachal Pradesh have bee sore points in Sino-Indian ties. India's continued shelter to the Dalai Lama, the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhists has been China's pet peeve.